Friday, August 24, 2012

Marilyn Monroe by Nickolas Murray

I came across these beautiful color shots of Marilyn Monroe while browsing my long time favorite forum Everlasting Star and wanted to share. The photos were taken by photographer Nickolas Murray in 1952. I was struck by the clarity and vibrant colors... simply beautiful!

Murray was a Hungarian immigrant who became famous for his celebrity portraits published in Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, and Ladies' Home Journal. In the 1930's he turned his focus from portraits to commercial photography where he established many of the conventions of color advertising. He was known as the master of the three-color carbro process.



Thursday, August 2, 2012

The Music of Funny Face (1957)

It was another boring Monday at the camera shop, and my mind was going a million miles a minute. Then all of a sudden there I found myself singing, out loud I might add, 's wonderful... s marvelous!'. As usual my co workers looked at me like I was nuts. It was at that moment I realized I never purchased the soundtrack to one of my favorite films... the 1957 fashion inspired musical Funny Face.


How had I not added this to my collection? With the wonderful songwriting of Ira Gershwin, Roger Edens and Leonard Gershe sung by the amazing voices of Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn and Kay Thompson... it seemed silly that I hadn't been enjoying this is my music collection all this time. Well as soon as I got home I purchased it from iTunes and haven't stopped listening since!


It is so hard to pick favorites on this album because it is  s wonderful (too much?) from beginning to end, but if I had to they would be... 'Think Pink', 'Bonjour Paris', 'How To Be Lovely', and 'S Wonderful'. But! Above all the others, 'Clap Yo Hands', is by far my favorite. The beat, the lyrics, it is just too much! And don't even get me started when Kay Thompson starts belting at the end... I immediately throw up my hands and start flailing around the room like a possessed drag queen joining the jubilee!


Well as if you can't tell from what I have already said, if you haven't seen this movie... you are missing out! You need to see it, hear it, experience it! Take my word on it!

You can find it on iTunes here.